Wednesday, May 11, 2016

New Poem Draft, New Poem Re-Draft

With a picture from Wikimedia commons, for any who have never seen a firewheel = Indian blanket = sundance = blanketflower = Gaillardia pulchella. They grow in legions here in Central Texas, and, of course, Texas spends quite a bit of money to seed its wildflowers along the highways, so you can see them turn a hill to fire.

you are the simplest queen, a maid
enthroned on grassy pillow,
rejoicing in the earth,
but sunlight crowned -- like ardent love.

Ataraxia

Not suspense but dwelling makes for peace;
to live at home upon a little plot
alone can quiet give that will not cease,
alone can bring to rest the restless thought.
Not doubt nor balanced judgment makes for calm
but cottage made of reason's little joys,
with splendid view and garden full of balm
to give shalom that nothing can annoy,
in Sabbath-rest and Sunday with the rose
that flowers by the house in vivid hue,
made music by a stream that softly flows
amid the grassy hills in morning dew,
when morning breeze blows scented, soft, and cool,
and you, in pleasant chair, drink tea and sigh
that all around is yours, though small it be,
and full of joy beneath an endless sky
that somewhere wraps around an endless sea.

Not suspense but dwelling makes for peace,
not judgment in suspense through skeptic's ploy,
but lovely truth to count your own small piece,
in which you spend your days in quiet joy.

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Caveats

For a rough introduction to my philosophy of blogging, including the Code of Amiability I try to follow on this weblog, please read my fifth anniversary post. I consider blogging to be a very informal type of publishing - like putting up thoughts on your door with a note asking for comments. Nothing in this weblog is done rigorously: it's a forum to let my mind be unruly, a place for jottings and first impressions. Because I consider posts here to be 'literary seedings' rather than finished products, nothing here should be taken as if it were anything more than an attempt to rough out some basic thoughts on various issues. Learning to look at any topic philosophically requires, I think, jumping right in, even knowing that you might be making a fool of yourelf; so that's what I do. My primary interest in most topics is the flow and structure of reasoning they involve rather than their actual conclusions, so most of my posts are about that. If, however, you find me making a clear factual error, let me know; blogging is a great way to get rid of misconceptions.